minimum wage

The minimum wage in Massachusetts is currently $8 per hour, the rate was set in 2008 and does not adjust for inflation.

The federal rate is currently $7.75, but President Obama has requested that Congress raise the rate to $9 per hour and index the rate to inflation.

The bill, filed by Democratic State Senator Marc Pacheco of Taunton, would seek to raise the Bay State’s minimum wage to $11 dollars over three years. Pacheco said that although the $3 increase may seem dramatic, the amount more accurately reflects the value of the minimum wage in 1968 adjusted for inflation.

Massachusetts State Senate President Therese Murray last week raised the possibility of a debate in the legislature this year on raising the state’s minimum wage. Noting that both New York and Maine plan to raise their minimum wages, Murray said there is a growing gap between the $8 per hour minimum wage and a living wage in Massachusetts. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Kitty Callaghan, a member of the Living Wage Western Massachusetts steering committee.

The New York State Senate held a rare Sunday session at the Capitol, in an attempt to get the state budget finished on time in the midst of major religious holidays.

The State Senate met to vote on three previously agreed upon budget bills, in an attempt to finish the spending plan without interfering with the Easter and Passover holidays. Senate Finance Committee Chair John DeFrancisco explained it on the Senate floor.

“We’re trying to jumpstart the process,” said De Francisco, who says starting early gives everyone “ample time” for debating the bills.

While New York is posturing to join 19 other states that have raised their minimum wages above the current federal level of $7.25 per hour, lawmakers in Washington are trying to promote passage of legislation that would hike the federal minimum wage to new heights.

While New York is posturing to join 19 other states that have raised their minimum wages above the current federal level of $7.25 per hour, lawmakers in Washington are trying to promote passage of legislation that would hike the federal minimum wage to new heights.

Labor, community, religious and policy groups from around New York welcomed a reported agreement to increase the state minimum wage to $9 per hour over the next three years. Not everyone embraces its tenets.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders reached a tentative deal last night increasing the state minimum wage over the next three years to $9-an-hour.

The Daily News reports that under the emerging agreement, the current $7.25 hourly minimum wage would increase in stages — to $8-an-hour in January; to $8.75 at the beginning of 2015; and topping off at $9-an-hour by the end of 2015. Meanwhile, Calling it a ploy by politicians in Albany, critics are blasting a proposal to extend a temporary income tax hike for millionaires.

The New York State legislature is fast tracking the budget process, as they try to reach final agreements and get bills printed by the weekend. The negotiations drew protesters to the Capitol, who are demanding that the budget include a minimum wage increase to $9 an hour, with automatic future increases for inflation.

The 50 or so demonstrators directed their ire toward Governor Cuomo and Senate Co Leader Jeff Klein, who they say aren’t doing enough to convince Republicans in the Senate to go along with a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour.

Today's panelists are Alan Chartock, David Guistina from WAMC News, and Mike Spain, Associate Editor of The Times Union. Joe Donahue moderates.

Our topics are: New York state Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling blocks limits on sugary drinks; NY GOP State Senators now open to Minimum Wage hike; the conclave to elect a new pope is underway; the TSA says yes to small knives on planes.

The New York State Senate has included raising the state’s minimum wage in its one-house budget resolution. But that’s not necessarily a signal that a wage increase is moving forward in the state spending plan.

Senate Republicans and a group of breakaway Democrats who lead the Senate have included an increase in the state’s minimum wage in their one house version of the state budget.